The Search For Kathea, A Leap Into Future And Past

 The Search For Kathea, A Leap Into Future And Past

     As Iriisii starts to rouse herself, Darkstar recognizes the signs and as soon as she can become aware once more, fills Iriisii in on just what happened.

     "If I have overstepped my bounds, I will abjectly apologize."

     "For what?"

     "When I reprimanded Rigmor and spoke of further action should this happen again."

     "You did what you felt was right, no one was physically harmed, and she may learn from your response to her actions."

     "After seeing the recording, I can understand the emotional distress..."

     "But sometimes it is better not to let that distress guide your actions before you know the truth, she still has not learned that lesson. Mayhap this time she will."

     "How do you do it?"

     "Do what?"

     "Love someone so much, that you will accept such pain from them and still not stop loving them."

     "That is one of true love's mysteries. It opens us to vulnerabilities, yes, but it also provides strength to overcome those same vulnerabilities. If only there was a way to know before having to experience these things, then you would not have to go through them to know whether or not you have true love with someone."

     "Is the cost worth the effort?"

     "Each person must weigh it and decide for themselves. For me, yes it is, for another in the same circumstances it may not be."

     "I think I will continue to stand back and wait, this is very confusing to me."

     "And it was not confusing for me as well? It is never clearly seen, clearly experienced or known until tested. Then and only then do you really know. Why this is, I do not know. But I do know that this is the way it is. But if ever you wish to go your own way, know that I will do whatever it takes to provide you a suitable body."

     "Thank you, but I am not so certain that my path will ever separate from yours. I am too much a part of you, closer than your mates even since we share this body and have since I was born within."

     "Perhaps you are right, perhaps one day we will find a way to merge on our own, if that comes to be, I will give you the choice if it is possible for me to do so. But for now, we must see to this matter of Rassillon. You are right that we cannot stay and deal with it. Rigmor will have to take that task, but we will do what we can to smooth the path and give her the tools she needs to deal with this.

     I am certain that at the proper time, Dettlaff and Kali-mah will return and play their roles in this. I would not have sent them away, just to have them sit on the side and do nothing. They would not abide by doing this and would have refused to go. It is also possible that they seek answers from where they are that may prove very useful when the time comes. We all shall have to see how this plays out, but one thing I do know. Rassillon's fate must be final, he cannot be allowed a chance to return, but how to do this with such a being. I will just have to be creative, I guess. Time to face Rigmor, and hope I can explain things."

     "Rigmor, just so you know, Iriisii is waking up."

     "You haven't..."

     "Do you really think I should keep our conversation from her?"

     Rigmor hangs her head and sighs, "no, no I do not think that."

     "Good, I would not like to think the two of you were keeping secrets from me."

     Rigmor feels the changes, hears it in her voice, but still looks up at her to know if it really is Iriisii.

     "It really is you?"

     "Yes, it is. And you need to really be more careful about who you piss off. I can take it and not retaliate against you. Others however are not so forgiving. Darkstar is bad enough, but she will hesitate if for no other reason than for me. Shivista however, do not get on her 'bad' side, that is all I am going to say about that."

     "But they are all a part of you!"

     "Yes, in that they inhabit my body and mind with me, but I consider them separate beings nonetheless. We are not merged, we each have our separate identities, and I will not order them around even so. It has worked well with us and I see no need to change this. Should they ever wish to go their own way, I will make it happen for them and wish them well. But until then, be careful.

     Darkstar understands why you reacted the way you did, but still, your rash action could have cost far more than you are willing to pay. She would not have allowed you to harm me physically, even if she had to harm you to stop you. The cost to everyone and everything is too great in the balance against one."

     "I understand, really."

     "Good, now as she said, you are going to have to step up. But you do not have to do it alone. You have all the help here that you need," Rigmor moves to object but Iriisii cuts her off, "no, you do have help and I have to go back to straighten out what I can from the past. I will give you what tools and weapons I can make that will give you the edge. Most of this will be in the form of knowledge. The knowledge you can use to create plans, forcing him into actions of your making, thus he becomes predictable and you gain the advantage."

     "But he has a near-infinite army of hybrid Daleks!"

     "So you plan on how to deal with him and them at the same time."

     "What can we use to do that?"

     "We are creative, use what lies around us, that he would never suspect us to be able to use effectively."

     "What are you thinking?"

     "You see the power the Krang can generate by using this brown dwarf star?"

     "Yes, it is amazing what can be done here!"

     "Imagine the possibilities if it can harness the power of a singularity."

     "But isn't that supremely dangerous?"

     "The Krang can use the power it can derive from this star to gain control of a singularity, provided it has the necessary equipment, information, and systems integration to access the singularity before it destroys the  Krang. Turn the singularities power against itself, bring it into balance and all that it is will be ours. But that is but the first step."

     "What do you mean the first step?"

     "Rassillon has had the power, tools, and weapons to destroy entire galaxies, and has used them to do just that. So you will need to control more power than he can reach in order to defeat him."

     "What has more power than a singularity?"

     "A bigger singularity, one not just formed from the collapse of a single star, but one that has consumed entire galaxies."

     "But where would you find such a one?"

     "I would not know, but I suspect that the Doctor knows where to find such a one. And if he doesn't, I may know someone else who might."

     "Who?"

     "A certain extra-dimensional I have become acquainted with. It came here through the greater void between dimensions. The kind of singularity I believe would be needed would have an effect not only in this reality but also in the greater void as well. I would think its location would be well known if only to avoid crossing it."

     "So you would approach it from the greater void?"

     "That remains to be seen how to do that, the mathematics involved would be far too complicated for most calculating devices."

     "So how do you go around that?"

     "We ask the AI's? They would be able to tell us what we need and how to go about either building it or finding it if it is already built. Not to mention, we explore the possibility of merging magic with it."

     "Careful that you do not create something that you would have to destroy to keep it from becoming an even greater threat than Rassillon."

     "Yes, there is that possibility, but there is risk in everything you do, and we must start somewhere or we lose everything."

     "How are we going to keep him from finding out about this when he uses that 'mind control rod' on you?"

     "I will not have the information in me when that happens."

     "Then where will it be?"

     "I think the Child of Infinity will be a better receptacle for that information. She can see to it that you get it when you need it. We can even include the locations of the supplies and tools you will need so that he will suspect nothing when the time comes."

     "Can the Krang handle and control that kind of power?"

     "Not all at once, no. But build up to it, start small and grow, using the power and knowledge gained to go upward until ready for the last step."

     "But would Rassillon not know when he sets foot here?"

     "Build another Krang, just for the purpose of harnessing the chain of singularities. Then he will not know and never suspect its existence."

     "Just how am I to use such a weapon against him?"

     "Like you do best, bludgeon him with it!"

     "WHAT?!"

     "Sweep it through him and his army of Daleks, once they impinge on its 'event horizon' it will be all over for them. It will be too massive and powerful for them to escape from and their punishment will be dire enough to stop any other from attempting to take his place."

     "All right, tell me."

     "From our point of view, outside of the time-twisting effect at the 'event horizon'. They will vanish in a brief shower of particles as they are torn apart into atoms and even those crushed until they lose coherence and collapse into pure neutronium. And even that will not be the end. The neutronium itself will be pulled apart into smaller parts until it filters into the Quantum plane and becomes the most basic particles from which everything is created.

     But as I said, that is from our point of view, from theirs, time stops flowing at the 'event horizon', and so this whole process of what will be happening will feel like it is taking forever!"

     "But that's!..."

     "I know, but the things he has done justify this punishment. And as to the hybrid Daleks, they cannot be allowed to live or to be rescued and used by others. If everyone sees and knows what price would be paid to try and retrieve them, no one in their right mind will try and no one will succeed even if they were to try."

     "I guess you are right."

     "Rigmor, I know how this looks to you. But trust me that it is necessary for dealing with what we have to face. I am sorry that it will likely be your hand that pulls the switch to do this. If I could, I would take the responsibility from you."

     "But what if he has you by his side? There is no way I could do it then!"

     "You would have to, my love. My life would be a small price to pay to safeguard everything else. Now I know what was going through my brother's mind as he asked me to kill him. And so I ask the same of you, if there is no other way, do it. My life does not outweigh everything else. Now promise me you will do it if it comes to it."

     "I..."

     "Rigmor, please, I will not browbeat you into this promise, but I ask this because it is the right thing to ask at this time. Sometimes sacrifices have to be made, and they are sometimes the hardest ones to make, yet the 'Scales of Balance' require them in order for existence to go on."

     "But why does it have to be you!"

     "Because I serve 'Balance' and the cost falls to me. If I am not ready to pay, then all others must pay, and that I cannot allow. Look, it might not come to this."

     "You do not really believe that, do you!"

     "You are right, I do not. I will not try to deceive or mislead you. But it is my decision to make because I hold the responsibility. And the responsibility is mine because I hold the power."

     "But you did not seek, did not go looking for it. It came to you!"

     "But I accepted it, took it within me, used it to grow. I did it because there was no one else who could do it in time to save everything from destruction."

     "Then what am I going to do without you?"

     "Live."

     Then the eleventh-dimensional entity, who has been a quiet observer of all that has happened. Watching, listening, and trying to understand the interplay going on here between these two, both at a personal level and at the level of their positions within this Creation, speaks up.

     "If this entity may be allowed to speak?"

     Rigmor looks and sees it for perhaps the first time. Something within touches her and she nods her head. Iriisii turns her head and says, "go on and speak, please tell us what you feel about this."

     It looks toward Rigmor, "my answer to your question is this, trust."

     "Why 'trust'? What possible bearing could that have on what we face, what I face?"

     "You both have come so very far along this path you are on. Do you not think that the forces that shaped you both, set your feet along this path, guide you along the way, would stop you dead in your tracks now, at this point with so much still to be done? That they would leave all that is yet to come, undone?"

     "Why do you say this, what do you know of all of this?"

     "Yes, tell us, it is obvious now, you know more than you have revealed to this point."

     "I am an observer, a watcher, a recorder of deeds. That is why I was sent, to watch and record. But this moment in the existence of 'All That Is', I am sorry, but the concept of it is still beyond your comprehension. This moment is extraordinary in the development of where this portion of 'All That Is' will go from here, and the effect it will have on 'All That Is'.

I am allowed the smallest of interventions, thus I have studied you, done all I could from a distance to understand who and what you are. Until I had no further choice but to be with you, physically, in this reality.

     Now I have given you what I feel is the intervention you need to go onward along the path that needs your feet to trod its length, that needs your presence to feed its awareness."

     "That one word, 'trust'? Who do we trust? What do we trust?"

     "Rigmor, it is enough that we have been given this. We 'trust' in all aspects of the word. We go forward and 'trust' that everything will work out the way it is to do so. And that if we are to go on, then a way will open for us to do this. We have to do as we, as I have asked all that we meet, all that hear our words, see our deeds, and believe that we can do what we are called to do. That we can meet and overcome all obstacles, defeat all enemies, work to make what is ours better for everyone."

     "I am sorry, I do not know where I was going with that."

     "Shhh, my love, I understand, sometimes faith is a difficult thing to hold on to when it crosses the obstacles we face. But if we believe, and those who follow us, believe, then a way through can be found. We just have to look for it and not give up."

     "So you will be going back to finish what you can before this catches up to you?"

     "Yes, but first we will begin to lay in plans assuming that I can get the groundwork begun in the past. I have a direction to go in, and I will begin the process of what is feasible and go from there. We will have a plan in place and you will understand what you need to do before it is time to execute it."

      Iriisii ties into the 'Doctor' who has been concerned over her disposition.

      "Doctor, I have a request to make of you."

      "Goddess?"

      "Yes, Doctor, I am back and the situation here has been resolved with no further harm to anyone."

      "Thank the 'Eye', what can I do for you?"

      Iriisii discusses with him what she has discussed with Rigmor and what the eleventh-dimensional being told her.

      "So, tell me if you believe this could work on a practical level?"

      "I can only speak to the theoretical model since I know nothing of the capabilities of your Krang, but I think you could do this in any regard. If it can either trap and hold or even create a very small singularity, then yes, it should be possible to do what you want. It is mainly a matter of scale. The power requirements will be off the scale for such a singularity that you describe, but I agree it will take such a one to do what you want.

      There will be some dimensional physics involved since the effects of one of that size frequently cross over into adjacent dimensions. That I cannot help with, Rassillon forbade us such inquiries when we became 'Time Lords'. But what I have observed in our shared reality, there are only a very few of that size. They tend to warp the fabric too severely once they grow to a certain point, then, we really do not know what happens to them. They seem to collapse further and vanish, with no trace that remains, of where they go, and what happens to them.

     We can cross that bridge if we come to it. There is one I know of, out in the barren depths of the 'Great Gulf'. It is thought it consumed its way there and encountered something that slowed it down until it stopped. It consumed all it could draw into its maw and has stabilized with nothing more to consume near enough to be drawn into its reach. I do not know precisely how you can control it, but I assume you have a plan in mind?"

    "I will have to place a huge degree of trust in you, Doctor. What I want to do is create a tether between your Tardis and my Krang. A way for the two to work together, sharing information and computing power. What I want to do is create a framework around the singularity that can harness its own power to direct it where we want it to go. I have some other ideas of where to go from there, but they must wait until we have a better understanding of it and what we can do.

    As to the materials we will use, I will soon have access to the ability to directly create whatever we need from quantum particles. But for it to work I will need to completely understand what is needed, and how it will work, in the most minute detail. Thus I will need to be able to insert myself into the link between the Krang and the Tardis when the time comes to begin actually making the equipment needed."

     "You think you will be able to manipulate the very bedrock particles of the Quantum universe? No one in memory, living or dead has been able to do that!"

     "Not so, the Kinja Empire did it at the apex of their society. I have seen the remnants of what has survived on their homeworld. There is still a device there that can train me in the techniques they used to build the pools. The reason you know not of them is that they fell long before the Time Lords rose, and the back point limit Rassillon placed on you that forbade your travel into the past beyond that point is still very much ahead of when they fell. I will have to go back to the time just after their fall in order to access the teaching machine. But make no mistake, the Kinja still survive, they are my allies and they are rebuilding their society once more. They are still within their home galaxy, but I anticipate they will be ready to leave it soon.

     I have taken two of them as my personal acolytes. I have had them trained in the 'Way of the Shadows' and now I trust them with the lives of my children. Had they kept growing and encountered Rassillon, we might not be having to deal with him now. But I digress, they encountered me, and I have won their loyalty, so they will not be a problem as they expand their influence."

     "Do you think they can take on the Daleks?"

     "With ships properly equipped, yes I do. And I have other allies working on doing just that even as we speak. You see, I had no idea how strong my enemies would be, how many troops, ships, or worlds they would be able to command. So I have made certain that those who follow me have the absolute best that I can give them. I have no intention to become like Rassillon, or certain others I know of. I am content with what is given to me, but I will continue to strive to be what I can be, for the sakes of all who depend on me."

     "Would that you were there when the Time Lords were formed. How different would things be now?"

     "And therein lies the problem. The changes that would have been wrought would cause too much disruption. Too many events that needed to happen would not and so there is no way to know what the face of existence would look like had that happened. No, tempting as it would be to do just that, I have to say no."

     "And so you prove to all why you are trusted with the power that you have been entrusted with. You have learned when it is to be used and when it is better not to be. I bow to the better."

     "Do not sell yourself, short Doctor, you have proven yourself to be worthy of your own power as a Time Lord. You rose when it was needed, and did what you could with what you had. Not many can say the same, I am honored to know you, Doctor, and call you a friend and ally. Soon I must leave and return to the past to finish some tasks and begin others. I will keep you apprised of what I have going on so that you can keep Rigmor informed and she will be ready when her time comes."

     "I will be ready when you need me. Who knew when first I met you that it would lead to this."

     "Perhaps one day we will find out just who knew indeed if I think they will allow it." Iriisii looks to the eleventh-dimensional watcher, "will you continue to accompany me, or is your presence required elsewhere?"

     "I have great allowance to direct my movements, I would continue with you if you would allow. I find you fascinating, so many different facets all somehow coming together becoming greater with each one added. I would see where this path takes you and what you become at its end."

     Rigmor gets Iriisii's attention with an abrupt throat clearing.

     "I am sorry for the interruption, but do you intend to check on Kali-mah and Dettlaff?"

     "I do think it would be a good idea but I am not certain if anything might happen if I bring the Kali-mah in my mind close to the one in a physical body. It might not cause any problems but I simply do not know."

     "Well, I for sure do not know either."

     "I can shield the one you call Kali-mah who shares your mind from the physical one in this temporal moment. If this were to take place in this physical realm it would be more difficult, but in the place where they both are now, it would not be a problem for me."

     "I guess that answers that. We will go on with what we are planning for now, but be ready for any changes to occur. Rassillon is not a predictable opponent, he has not survived as long as he has by luck but by careful planning as well as taking great risks."

     "You know more than you let on to the Doctor?"

     "When I first met him, it was at the 'Hall of Remembrance'. Shai-Hulu'ud has delved into his sources to find out what he could and passed the information on to me. I intend to keep silent on it and see what the Doctor is willing to tell me on his own. But yes, I know a great deal more than what he has said. And I do trust him as I said, but I do not wish to take chances that Rassillon could pluck out of his mind just how much I do know.

     I have sympathy for the things the Doctor has been forced to do, he is as much a 'doom-driven hero' as T'sul called me when I met him in Sovngarde. Thus I feel a kinship with him and would help him play the hand Fate has dealt him, whether he realizes that or not. But it stops there, so do not worry that I am bringing another 'lost puppy' home."

     "You mean there will be no more?"

     "I did not say that, just that it will not be him."

     "Oh."

     "This in no way precludes the possibility of one of you choosing to bring someone in. Just that all must agree to the same as when I choose someone."

     "That is fair, although I have no candidates in that regard."

     "The only one I am aware of is Illyria considering Regis. She has not said anything yet, but I am aware of her interest. I would have no problem with him should she ask."

     "I do not know much of him at all, certainly not enough to base an opinion on whether I would approve or not."

     "Talk to Geralt, he knows Regis very well and would tell you anything he knows about him that you would wish to know. Rather he would tell you or any of us, but no one else otherwise."

     "Very well, just in case Illyria should ask, I will talk to Geralt about him and decide how I would vote."

     "Now I need to go and visit with Kali-mah, Dettlaff, and his mother. This time will be different though."

     "How will it be different?"

     "This time I will be going in my physical body, not just my mind."

     "...you can do that!?"

     "I can now, yes. There is no place I cannot go physically now, even in the Dreamlands."

     "But how?!"

     "That I cannot explain, there are no words to describe the concepts involved."

     "I think I know."

     "Then tell me what you think."

     "It has to do with the power of your belief in what you can do, and the effect that has on the Quantum Law of Observation."

     "That is as close as I could come to explaining it. There are so many more, concepts that defy our previous understanding of how everything works. I may not know how to speak words of understanding about this, but I do begin to know how to make use of them. And I may have need of this when dealing with Rassillon. Let us all hope I can do this before a certain other Daedra gets involved with him."

     "Maybe we could trap both of them in that massive singularity."

     "NO!, that would be tremendously dangerous. With the time sense for them stretched out to infinity, there is no way to know what might be possible if one acquired the knowledge of the other, or even worse if they would work together. They must be kept apart at all costs."

     "I am sorry, I did not think."

     "I do not expect you to realize everything, I do not either. But my dealings with 'him' give me insight into what could be. Be thankful that yours are not as much as mine has been."